


snake lore from catbirbs

by Katyuana



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Other, in all technicality this isn't original work or fandom SO, this is from an rp I'm in and since it got really big I'm posting it here, yeah they have wings, yes it's warrior cats, yup the kits' names are Voltron references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 10:31:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10410171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katyuana/pseuds/Katyuana
Summary: (im in a catbirb (winged cats) RP and I wrote stuff and it got big and now I'm posting it here and no one can stop me from posting catbirbslore prompt was 'why do snakes have only two fangs' and instantly I exploded)





	1. Elder Blossoms

Blossoms Falling To Ground was an old elder who greatly enjoyed telling stories to the kits, even if she put up a fuss sometimes. That was just appearances. 

Tiny paws make scuffling noises just in front of her and Blossoms had to stifle a small smile even as she kept her eyes closed. "Now who could that be, disturbing an old warrior's sleep?"

Three squeaks and one giggle told Blossoms exactly who it was before she even opened her eyes. Of all her storytelling listeners, it was Dew That Gathers After Rain's litter that loved her stories the most. 

"What a surprise," Blossoms remarked without truth, raising her head. The little fluffy kittens only fluttered their wings at her, eyes wide. Blossoms may be old now but to a kit, she was still very large, even if her wings weren't what they used to be.

"S-sorry! We didn't mean to-" bumbled Green Leaf Of New Growth.

"Elder Blossoms! Can you tell us a story?" Blue Sky Without Clouds blurted out, her daring attitude at odds with her siblings' more cautious nature. The other three kits mostly looked mortified by their sister's impoliteness.

"A story? How odd of a request," Blossoms said, moving into a comfortable storytelling position. She gave the waiting kits an evaluating look. "Ever hear the story of Moss the trickster and the Snake?"

Instantly, all four kits shook their heads. 

"Well, I'll tell you then." Blossoms leaned forward…

\-----------

Many a moon ago, there once a young warrior named Moss That Grows On Rocks. He was a clever one, never the type to fight his way out of a scuffle but rather to charm, to talk. A silver tongue if I ever saw one. 

His mate was known as Vines Hanging From Branches and she was just as clever as him with a ferocity that Moss himself lacked, but easily matched his tricks with her own. Moss was quick to fall for her but that's another story for another time.

Moss and Vines made their nest together and they were quite happy together, with four eggs just waiting to hatch. Then one day, Moss heard that a neighboring nest close by them had been attacked by the most fearsome of beasts, Deadly Fangs, the ravenous viper. Deadly Fangs ate eggs and her mouth full of teeth would stop even a furious nesting mother in her tracks.

\------

"I thought snakes only had two teeth!" Blue interrupted.

Blossoms didn't have to scold Blue as all her siblings immediately turned and shushed her right away. "Elder Blossoms is telling a _story!"_ Yellow Flower On Small Branch hissed.

"And if you'll let me continue." Blossoms said warningly. All the kits turned right around to give her pleading looks. 

\-------

With every tooth dripping with poison, Deadly Fangs had truly earned her name. She was the biggest snake in all the territories and even one nest would not feed her for very long.

Moss knew that their nest was close to where the other one was attacked. He knew that even his viciously protective mate could not win against Deadly Fangs. There was a lot he knew and not much that could help, but one thing he did know that could help was that Deadly Fangs liked eating the biggest egg first. She was greedy like that. 

Vines watched him pace around their nest, his mind whirling and thinking. She offered no ideas of her own, but only sharpened her claws as if preparing to sink them into Deadly Fangs' scaly back. 

"I won't let Deadly Fangs eat our eggs," Moss said to her, barely pausing in his pacing.

"What a nice promise, Moss," Vines said bitingly. "But a flimsy vow won't stop Deadly Fangs from eating our eggs."

"I'm thinking… wait! I've got it!" Moss declared at last. He raced away before Vines could ask anything. 

Moss ran right to the river, wading into the water. His paws slipped on the smooth rocks under the water and his flapping wings looked like a pidgeon splashing water everywhere. But despite his slipping, Moss succeeded in his goal, in grabbing a big white (and mostly importantly) smooth rock. It was heavy and Moss wasn't very strong but he hefted it up and flapped his wings even faster than a hummingbirds! 

Vines wasn't sure what her mate was doing, dropping a rock near their nest but she was willing to listen. And Moss explained to her, "This rock looks like an egg and Deadly Fangs won't be able to tell the difference. She'll swallow it and be too heavy to attack anyone. It's big too, Deadly Fangs always eats the biggest one first."

Moss finished with "Guard this rock like it's your own egg."

Vines looked at the rock, which made the rest of her eggs look tiny, sitting outside her nest. The rock was white and her own eggs were spotty with brown flecks. Then she looked at Moss, skepticism in every inch of her. "This is stupid." But she shuffled the rock into her nest obligingly, careful to not squish her eggs. 

Moss and Vines went to sleep a little awkwardly with that big rock in their nest. (Vines made sure that Moss was closest to the rock, leading to a bit of a bruise on his tummy the next day.)

\------

"Haha! That's just like Momma and Dadi!" Blue giggled. 

Red Beetle Crawling Over Leaves nudged her. "We don't have rocks in our nest! And shh!"

"Momma makes Dadi sleep with Yellow on his belly!" Blue protested. 

Yellow squeaked, offended. "I'm not like a rock!"

"You kick," Green muttered. 

"You all are going back to your nest if you don't let me finish my story," Blossoms warned sweetly. Poor Dew had her paws full handling them.

"We'll be quiet, Elder Blossoms!" The kits said right away. 

\-------

On the next day, Moss went out hunting, though it made him very nervous to leave Vines alone. Vines very deliberately flashed her claws and Moss was suddenly reminded of his mate's fighting prowess.

However, the sun had only just crested the sky when Moss heard Vines yowling at the top of her voice. Fear striking his heart, Moss dropped the prey he'd caught and flew back as quick as he could. It could only be one thing.

When he burst into their nesting area, Moss was terrified! Vines had her wings arched up above her in the most threatening display possible, her mouth dropped open to show off her own fangs and her claws extended. 

But Deadly Fangs did not care.

Deadly Fangs had poison in her mouth and a speed that even Vines was leery of, along with the reach that Deadly Fangs could achieve. 

Deadly Fangs slithered closer to their nest and Vines' yowling pitched higher, even as she was forced to step back. The fear in Moss' heart went up higher the closer that Deadly Fangs got to their eggs.

In the face of a hungry snake, Moss was doubting his plan. Deadly Fangs was cunning… would his false egg truly fool her?

Suddenly Vines yowled, "Stay away from my eggs! Especially my biggest one, it's about to hatch!" 

Moss was startled. Their eggs were moons away from hatching, what was she…

"My tiny eggs are null, but please don't eat my big egg!" Vines yowled, further confusing Moss when her voice wobbled, something he had never heard Vines do.

But Vines held cleverness of her own and her lies were as silver tongued as Moss' tricks. Deadly Fangs liked big eggs but if she believed that an egg was null, she left it alone, seeing no pleasure in eating it.

Deadly Fangs' eyes glinted in evil glee as she immediately directed her attention to the rock. 

Three things happened in quick succession.

Deadly Fangs lunged forward and clamped her maw on the rock with great force. 

Vines made a screeching yowl sound that made Moss shiver, her wings snapping out. 

And there was a great crackling noise, as Deadly Fangs reared back in pain and shock. Shards of white teeth fell out of her mouth and Deadly Fangs fell out of the nest, mouth still open but empty of teeth.

All except for two long fangs.

Vines yowled again, this time ringing with triumphant. She leapt forward, her claws swiping down, and Deadly Fangs slithered away in fear, suddenly outnumbered by pointy bits. 

The nesting mother made haste in chasing Deadly Fangs out, barely even glancing at Moss as she ran past.

Moss was coming to terms with what had just happened, of having a ravenous snake near the nest of precious eggs. By the time Vines made her way back, Moss was rubbing his cheeks on the very safe eggs, grateful to still have children. "You're amazing," he tells Vines adoringly. "You tricked her!"

Vines held up her head proudly. "I am very amazing," she agreed. "But the rock idea was yours."

Moss flapped his wings. "We have to tell everyone else! Deadly Fangs fell for it and she's the smartest snake! No nest will ever be attacked again!"

Vines purred, climbing into the nest with him. "Maybe they'll tell stories about you, if you stop the snakes from attacking nests."

Moss shrugged, his ears feeling hot as Vines rubbed their cheeks together. "Well, that's okay. As long as they don't forget you."

Vines stepped out of the nest, turning to give Moss a pleased look. "How would anyone forget about me?" She flapped her wings once. "Stay and guard the nest. I'll go get the prey you dropped and spread the news."

"Yes, my love," Moss said happily, settling his wings over the eggs to keep them warm. 

And so Vines got the prey and spread the news as she did. She pointed them to the river and told them to get a smooth oval rock. Snakes could not see the different in egg colors, it didn't matter much. And snakes were very untrusting, being so treacherous, so Deadly Fangs never told any of her fellow snakes about the trick, nor would they have believed her. To this day, every snake has only two fangs, from falling for Moss' tricks so long ago, biting on rocks. 

And so, Moss the trickster's actions protected nesting eggs for generations on. And we can never forget Vines and how she tricked Deadly Fangs and saved her nest.

\------

"We still have rocks in our nests when new mothers have eggs," Blossoms said in confirmation. "It's good luck now."

Blue's eyes widened. "Really?"

Red looked baffled. "So the trick really works?"

Blossoms nodded. "You four are the youngest right now and there's been no eggs since your hatching day, so you haven't seen it happen yet. But your mother had a rock in her nest, just like everyone else. And of course it works! All snakes today have only two fangs, don't they?"

Red reluctantly nodded. He couldn't dispute that.

Green looked up at Blossoms, curiosity in their eyes. "You have kits, right? Even you had a rock, right?"

Blossoms purred like a rolling thunderstorm. "Yes, I was a queen once. Yes, I had a rock in my nest too."

"Did you have to fight off a snake like Vines did too?" Yellow asked, her excited flapping smacking Red and Blue's wings, who immediately retaliated with flapping of their own. It soon descended into a wing slapping fight. Green, more off to the side, mostly ignored their siblings, waiting on the answer to Yellow's question avidly.

"Stop all that ruckus, I'm still old," Blossoms growled, shifting positions and moving her wings like she was gonna forcibly separate the squabbling kits.

But her nonverbal threat was all it took. Yellow removed herself from the fighting quickly and Blue and Red mostly stopped, although reluctantly. "You're not that old, Elder Blossoms," Blue said earnestly, Yellow echoing her agreement.

"I'm old enough to know you should have better manners," Blossoms grunted.

"Where do the rocks come from? You can't all go to the river. What happens to the rock after the eggs hatch?" Green questioned.

"I got mine from my mother." She nodded, fondly remembering that time of her life. "Yes, that's right, my mother passed down the rock that she herself used when I was a little egg. See, nesting queens keep the rock so that others can use it. Sometimes if a nesting queen doesn't have one passed down in her family, then another old queen gives her one. It's very good luck. Your mother used her own mother's rock too, and I can guarantee that your mother and your mother's mother never got any sign of snake trouble," Blossoms assured them.

"It must be good luck then!" Green murmured, their little stubby wings twitching. 

Blossoms glanced out of her den. "The sun is low, it's time for bed for sleepy kits!"

There was instant protests. "I'm not tired!" Blue yelped, her flapping wings smacking Red again. 

Blossoms hustled them out of her den before Red could even try to do anything back. "Dew!" she called out, seeing a familiar face stepping out of the nursery, fur on one half of her face flattened from sleeping on it weird.

Poor Dew, the nesting queen still looked exhausted. "Elder Blossoms," Dew said, relieved. "Thank you for entertaining them."

"It was no trouble. They like stories," Blossoms purred. "They might ask some questions about the nesting rock."

"Oh, wonderful," Dew muttered, even as her bushy tail bundled the kits into the nursery without her even looking at them. "Goodnight, Elder Blossoms."

Dew always tried to get them to bed early, though it rarely worked. "Goodnight, Dew."


	2. original draft

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> okay so this was the condensed/first draft of the lore I thought up. The first chapter of this fic is the extended version/actual tale that an elder would tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty obviously, you can tell that I changed a few things from original to final draft.  
> examples:  
> •got the name of 'deadly fangs' for monster snake  
> •Deadly Fangs= male snake to female snake  
> •the number of rocks/nesting rocks  
> •how the 'showdown' between deadly fangs and the trick went down

Ever wonder why snakes have just two long teeth? Way back when, snakes used to have a mouthful of fangs and were treacherous to boot. With their fangs, nobody dared to get close, even a nesting queen would think twice before fighting off a snake. They were ruthless egg hunters and many a nest became empty due to a hungry snake. 

One day, a clever young warrior named Moss That Grows On Rocks, decided enough was enough. He said to his mate, who had three eggs in their nest, that he would never allow any snake near their eggs. His mate, Vines Hanging From Branches, said that that was all well and good but how did Moss expect to fight off a toothy snake? There was a rumor about a fearsome snake, the biggest and hungriest of them all, slithering around their nesting area too. Moss replied that he wouldn’t fight that ravenous snake. He’d outsmart it.

Moss went down to the river, where the water wore away at the stones underneath it. He dove down into the water and grabbed three oval rocks. Pulling them out, he went right back to his mate’s nest and said to her, “Vines, protect these rocks like they’re your own eggs.“ 

And Vines told him he was silly but she did it anyway, because losing a nest of eggs was just about the worst thing that could happen to anybody. 

The very next day, Moss was out hunting when he heard Vines yowling. He raced back to their nest, only to find Vines triumphantly tossing the snake out of their nest with no fear whatsoever. "Vines, what happened?” he asked. 

She looked at him fiercely and said, “That snake came right up to my nest and hissed up a storm at me with his mouth full of fangs and I had to move or he’d eat me before my eggs. But that dumb snake, he lunged right for those rocks and broke his whole mouth on them!” She kicked at the white shards lining their nest. “With only two teeth, I knew I could fight him off and I did! That snake is never coming back here!”

Moss and Vines quickly shared their snake-tricking method and now every snake has only two teeth, having been tricked by false eggs.


End file.
